What I really wanted
by jenmichellex3
Summary: What happens when you realize that the only person you've ever wanted is standing right in front of you? What happens when you realize that you're head over heels in love? And, with the person you never expected to fall for? What are you supposed to do then? *Rated T for future chapters*
1. Chapter 1

_Slam slam slam. _"Derek? _Where _is my _favorite _cardigan?" _Slam slam slam_.

Casey violently knocked on Derek's door. When Casey woke up this morning, she went through her usual morning routine. Her alarm clock went off as usual, 6:00am on the dot. She immediately got up and went to the bathroom, taking her hair out of the braid she put it in last night. Rubbing her eyes, she closed the bathroom door behind her and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair had small waves in it, a result of braids. She contemplated taking a shower, but decided against it, as she knew Edwin would be knocking on the door at any moment, asking for her to hurry up, so he could use the bathroom. She would just take a shower tonight, after she finished her homework. Casey reached down to turn the water on, and began to cup her hands under the faucet. Before she could splash her face with the water, Edwin knocked on the door, just like she knew he would. "Casey? Can you hurry up?" Casey sighed, "Alright, just let me brush my teeth." Casey continued to splash water on her face, until she was completely awake, then took her toothbrush and toothpaste, and got to work. When she was done, she took a deep breath, taking in how clean her mouth felt.

When she opened the bathroom door, Edwin was standing there, with an impatient look on his face. He, like the rest of the Venturi's, including George, weren't morning people. Casey knew better than to say anything to him, so she walked right past him, and into her room. She walked to her vanity and took out the brush from the top drawer and started to brush her hair. Once her hair was presentable, she opened the other drawer, and started on her makeup. The next time she looked at the clock, it said 7:00am. So, she stood up and walked towards her closet. When she was doing her hair and makeup, she decided mentally to wear her new skirt that she bought at the mall with Emily last week. She decided on purple eyeshadow, and put together her purple tank top, with her white cardigan to go on top of it. But when she looked into her closet, she couldn't find her cardigan. If she still lived in her old house before her mom married George, she wouldn't make anything of it. She would simply find something else to wear, and ask her mom if she'd seen it later. But, no. She knew, because she lived in the same house as Derek, that he had to have done something with it. God, it's like he thrived on making her life a living hell. She stormed out of her room, stomping her way towards Derek's.

_Slam slam slam _"Derek?! _Where _is my _favorite _cardigan?" _Slam slam slam. _"What's going on?" Lizzie asked, rubbing her eyes as she walked out of her room. "I can't find my cardigan. I think Derek took it." Casey replied, as she continued to knock heavily on the door. Lizzie sighed and walked past her to the bathroom. As soon as Lizzie closed the bathroom door, Derek opened his. _"What do you want?"_

"Where is my white cardigan?" A smile appeared on Derek's face. While it was true that he wasn't a morning person, it was also true that he was happiest when he was annoying Casey, no matter what time of day it was. "What's a cardigan?"

Casey scoffed. "Derek." She said firmly, "I'm not in the mood for this today, okay?"

Derek wouldn't budge. He just stood in the doorway, with that stupid smile on his face.

"Uh, Casey?"

Casey turned around. "Mom! Is that my cardigan?" She said, as she ran towards her mom, there looked to be a brown stain on it, though she couldn't tell what it was. "Did you want this thrown away?" Casey turned and looked at Derek. "Seriously, Derek?" She rolled her eyes, "No, mom, I didn't. That must have been Derek's idea of a joke." She started to take it, but it was sopping wet, "Uh.. mom, can you just.. put it in the wash for me?"

"Of course, sweetheart. Derek, you really need to stop messing with Casey." Nora said as she turned around, holding the cardigan an arm length away from her.

Casey looked at Derek, rolled her eyes and mentally started putting together another outfit in her head, as she walked back into her room, closing the door behind her.

Derek closed his bedroom door, yawning. He turned around and looked at the clock, and in big red letters it screamed to him _7:04am._ He ran his hands across his face and looked around his floor for his jeans. He found a pair and lazily took off his sweatpants and put on the jeans. He figured the gray tshirt he had on was just fine for the day, so he walked out and went to use the bathroom and go to the kitchen for some breakfast. When he got to the kitchen, everybody but Casey was already eating. Derek sat in his usual chair at the breakfast table and looked at Edwin. "Edwin. Cereal." Edwin subtly rolled his eyes and got up, getting Derek's cereal bowl and his cereal, and fixing it for him. At the moment Edwin sat it down in front of him, Casey walked into the kitchen. She was wearing a skirt Derek had never seen her in, and apparently made a replacement for the white cardigan she was planning to wear, settling for a gray cardigan she obviously found in the very back of her closet.

"Hey, Casey, you okay?" Nora asked, with concern.

Casey grunted and sat down, "Yeah. If only Derek would stop messing with my stuff." She said, looking at Derek with frustration. Derek smiled. "Well, I would, but it's just so fun to mess with you, Case."

"Derek, what did you do to her this time?" George asked, sounding almost as frustrated as Casey.

Derek looked into his cereal and started eating much quicker than before.

"He thought it would be funny to put some of Casey's clothes in the sink, and put nasty leftovers on top of it." Nora answered for him.

"Oh, Derek that's not funny." George said, seriously.

Derek rolled his eyes and finished his cereal, stuffing a huge biteful into his mouth. "I'm gonna go." He said, picking his backpack off the ground and walking towards the door, putting his jacket on. "See ya!"

"You know what? Yeah I'll see you guys later, too. I better go ahead and get to school." Casey said, getting up from her seat.

"What, no breakfast?" Nora asked, worried.

Casey snickered, "No, mom, I'm fine. I'll just eat a health bar or something."

And before Nora could say anything else, Casey was already out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: For the record, this story will get better. I promise. This is just my running start. I want to start it realistically, so please be patient. It will be amazing soon enough. Thank you. :) **

* * *

Casey smiled as she walked towards Emily. "Hey, Em."

"Hey!" Emily said, closing her locker and looking at Casey. "You look nice today."

"Thanks. I would look _better _but a certain somebody named Derek took and ruined my white cardigan."

"Oh, well, what you have on looks nice, too." Emily said, smiling brightly up at her. Casey rolled her eyes and laughed at her best friend. "Thanks, Em."

Emily giggled lightly and walked with Casey to their first class. Fortunately for Casey, they had homeroom together. Which meant she could talk to Emily. And, when Casey didn't have a boyfriend, Derek and whatever the new prank he pulled on her was, was all she could seem to talk about. Emily snickered, thinking to herself that if they weren't step brother and sister, they would definitely be dating.

"Emily are you even listening?" Casey said, as they sat down.

"Of course." Emily said, "You were talking about how Derek ruined your cardigan?"

Casey smiled, pleased that Emily had been listening. But, of course, she hadn't. Casey was just too predictable. Couldn't she ever talk about anything else?

Emily looked around the room, same old people, nothing really new she could bring up to change the subject. She thought back to when she loved talking about Derek, and internally laughed at how Casey changed her.

Suddenly, somebody new walked in. Emily jumped at the chance to change the subject, "Who's he?"

Casey looked at Emily confused. Emily pointed to the door. "Hm. Don't know." Casey said, looking up at him. She immediately noticed the wavy blonde hair and how extraordinarily cute he was. He looked confused, like, he didn't know where he should be sitting. He looked over at Casey and Emily and, realizing they were staring, Emily looked away. Casey, however, waved at him to come over and sit in the seat behind her.

"Hey, how are you?" Casey asked, as he sat down.

"I'm good.." He looked around the room, "Is there not assigned seating?"

Emily laughed and looked away, Casey smiled, "No.. So you're new?"

He gave the smallest crooked smile, "Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe a bit," Casey replied, scrunching her face up a bit.

At that moment, their homeroom teacher, Mrs. Johnson, walked in. Everybody looked up as she began to talk. "I hear we have a new student today," She said with a smile, looking around the class, "Um, Tyler Walker?"

Tyler slowly raised his hand.

"Ah, well it's nice to meet you Tyler. I do hope you'll enjoy it here." Mrs. Johnson said with the tiniest smile, and began class.

When the bell rang, Casey turned to Tyler. "Sorry I never got the chance to introduce myself in there, I'm Casey." She held out her hand for him to shake.

He smiled, "I'm Tyler." He said, as he, Casey and Emily gathered their things and walked out of the classroom and into the already crowded hallway.

"I'm Emily." Emily said, waving.

He smiled up at her, "Hey."

"Yeah, so if you ever need anything, seriously, just let me know, I can help you out with anything. I was the new student here once, too."

Tyler smiled and pulled out a sheet of paper, "Well then maybe you can help me find my next class? I'm so confused."

Casey looked over his schedule, "Oh, of course. Language Arts, room 303. That's my next class, too. We can just walk together." She said, waving goodbye to Emily, who started walking the other way.

"Oh, thanks." Tyler said, stuffing the paper back into his pocket.

"So, where did you last go to school?" Casey asked as they walked down the hall.

"Ellington High. We moved here because my parents got divorced."

Casey nodded her head, "Yeah, I know all about that. Well, you're gonna love it here. I didn't like it so much when we first moved here, but I got used to it eventually."

Tyler laughed, "That's reassuring."

Casey sarcastically rolled her eyes as they sat down in the desks next to each other. Their Language Arts teacher, Mr. Peterson was already there. Casey jumped up from her seat, as usual, to talk to Mr. Peterson about the next assignment he had planned.

At the end of the day, Casey stood at her locker, putting some things away, and some in her backpack so she could study later. She heard footsteps walking towards her, so she looked up and smiled. "Heyyy Em."

Emily gave her a suspicious smile, "So what's the 411 on that guy?"

Casey shrugged.

"Oh come on! I saw you talking to him! I know you've got to have _something _for me."

Casey laughed, "Okay, fine. His name is Tyler. He's 17. He moved here with his mom because his parents got divorced. Better?."

"Yes, thank you."

Casey laughed and shut the door to her locker, walking out towards the parking lot.

"No, but he's really cute isn't he?" Emily said, gushing.

"Of course, he was adorable," Casey said, continuing to giggle, "Hey, do you think your mom could give me a ride home? My mom can't pick me up, and I really don't feel like walking today." Casey asked Emily.

"Sure, I don't think my mom will mind. Just have to ask her." Emily said, before opening her mom's car door and asking. She looked up and nodded at Casey, as Casey scooted into the back seat.

"Hi, Casey." Emily's mom said happily, "how are you sweetheart?"

"I'm good," Casey smiled, "How are you?"

"Good!"

As they pulled into the Davis' garage, Casey thanked Emily's mom for the ride, and told Emily she would see her later. She thought about how lucky she was to have Emily for a neighbor, as she opened the door to her own house. There Derek sat in his usual chair, and there, on the couch, was Sam, Ralph, and Tyler.

"_Tyler?"_


	3. Chapter 3

"Uh, Tyler, what are you doing here?" Tyler looked from Casey to Derek. But, before Tyler had an opportunity to speak, Derek spoke for him, "He's on the hockey team. Better question is, how do _you _know him?"

Casey eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head.

"She helped me at school this morning." Tyler said quietly, smiling up at Casey.

Derek laughed, "Little advice Tyler? If you want to hang out with me and be cool, I wouldn't hang out with Klutzella here. " Derek said, looking at Tyler seriously.

"Seriously Derek? I mean, do you have to be such a jerk all the time?" Casey said, furrowing her eyebrows and crossing her arms in front of her. Derek smiled, obviously very amused, "Yes, actually, I do."

Sam looked at Tyler, who looked very confused. "They're step-siblings." Sam said, trying to lessen his confusion. Sam, Tyler and Ralph watched as Casey and Derek bickered back and forth. Sam and Ralph were rather used to this charade, while Tyler, on the other hand, still looked afraid. "Don't worry," Ralph said suddenly, "It's nothing against you. They literally do this all the time."

"Well.. you know what, Derek... you... you stink_!" _Casey said angrily. Derek laughed at Casey's attempt at a comeback, which made Casey even angrier. She sighed and started to stomp her way upstairs before stopping, "It's nice to see you again, Tyler." She mustered out before finally stomping up the stairs.

Casey walked into her room, taking her phone out of her pocket and dialing Emily's number. The phone rang 3 times and then, "Hello?"

"Hey, Em. You'll never guess who is in my house right now."

"Uh, who?"

"Tyler."

"Oh, really? Did he come by to ask you out?" Emily asked jokingly.

Casey scoffed, "No. He's hanging out with _Derek_."

"What? Why?"

"Apparently he's on the hockey team."

"Uh-oh."

* * *

George and Nora didn't feel like cooking that night, so they ordered in Chinese food. Tyler, Sam and Ralph all left a little before dinner.

"So, how was everyone's day?" Nora asked, as they all sat down at the dinner table.

"Fine." Casey, Lizzie and Marty said in unison. Casey smiled at Marty, happy that Marty was taking after the McDonalds. Casey took a napkin from the table and delicately folded it into her lap. As Casey did this, Derek burped loudly.

"Derek." Nora said, firmly.

At that, Derek hit Edwin upside the head, "'Scuse me." Edwin said, stuffing a peace of chicken into his mouth.

Casey wrinkled her face in disgust. You'd think that after so long of living with the Venturi's, she would have gotten used to their disgusting habits. But, no. That definitely wasn't the case. She simply had to muddle along and live through it. Sometimes, she wondered how her mom was ever attracted to George. They were so different. Casey looked at her mom, smiling quietly at George, who was smiling right back as he ate. Nobody could deny the fact that they were madly in love. It was obvious. They were so much more in love than Casey's mom and dad ever were, and the two of them were practically the same person. But, of course, that's probably why it didn't work out between them, Casey thought, as she ate. And, that being said, maybe that's why George and Nora worked so well together. They balanced each other out.

Casey finished her dinner before anybody else and excused herself from the table. She went upstairs and took out her language arts book, ready to study, when there was a knock on her door. Casey sighed, "hold on." She started to get up, but right as she sat up, the door opened. Derek came in and flopped himself onto her bed. "Or come right in." Casey said, exasperatedly.

"Look," Derek said, getting himself comfortable, "Don't start crushing on Tyler, k?"

Casey furrowed her brows, "Um, why would I do that?"

Derek smirked, "Because, I know you. And you seem to have the biggest crushes on the guys that are _my _friends."

Casey laughed, "I would never _have a crush _on somebody who is friends with you."

"Alright. Explain Sam, then." Derek said, raising his eyebrows at Casey.

"Ugh, get out of my room, Derek."

"Fine," Derek said, smirking as he got up, "Just don't date anymore of my friends."

Casey rolled her eyes, "Close my door."

Derek started to, but in the same thought, decided against it, and pushed the door open even further as he walked out.

"_Der-ek!" _Casey screamed as she got up and stomped towards her door. She looked out into the hallway and saw his shadow walking in through his own doorway. "Jerk."


	4. Chapter 4

Derek woke up the next morning with a pounding in his head. He turned and looked at the clock, with the alarm still going off. _7:30am. _The letters flashed at him in huge bright red, which only worsened his headache. He moaned and slammed his hand hard on the clock. The loudness of the alarm stopped and Derek's headache lessened. He heard footsteps running back and forth outside his door. Over the years he learned to recognize the sounds of his different family member's footsteps. Edwin walked by, then Marty, then Lizzie, Marty again, then Casey, and Edwin again. Derek contemplated going back to sleep, rolling over and pulling his blankets up over his head, but the footsteps kept him up. So, he instead got up, stomping his own way to the bathroom, wondering idly on the way there if his family could tell what his footsteps sounded like as well.

"Look who's finally up." Casey said sarcastically as they passed. Derek looked up at her and smirked mockingly, before sticking his middle finger up at her, walking into the bathroom, and shutting the door loudly.

Casey rolled her eyes and giggled a bit before heading down the stairs, "Hey mom." She said with a smile, as Nora frantically scanned the room. "You okay?"

"Oh, hey Case." Nora said mindlessly.

"Mom," Casey said, stifling a laugh and grabbing Nora's hand, "I asked if you were alright."

Nora sighed exasperatedly, "I'm about to be late for my meeting and I can't find my keys. Do you know were my keys are?"

Casey let go of her mom's hand and scrunched up her face a bit, trying to remember the last place she saw them. "Um, have you checked the top of the dryer? I think I remember seeing them there yesterday."

Casey tried not to laugh as she calmly walked behind her mom, who ran past the living room and kitchen and into the dining room. Much to Nora's relief, she walked into the laundry room and saw her keys sitting right on top of the dryer. She turned around and faced Casey, holding the keys up in the air in gratitude. "What would I do without you, sweat pea?" Nora said, kissing Casey on the head, and running past her.

Casey turned around, walking back towards the kitchen, and sat down at the breakfast table next to Lizzie. "So, how are you this morning, Liz?"

Lizzie looked up at Casey and smiled, "I'm good. You?"

"I'm good." Casey said, as she got up, walking towards the fridge. She looked around for the milk, but came up with nothing. "No milk?" She said, closing the fridge and turning around towards Lizzie.

"Oh," Lizzie said, looking up, "Sorry, no. We used the last bit of it at breakfast yesterday and we forgot to tell mom or George."

"Hmm." Casey said, looking around the kitchen for something else to eat, other than the cereal she had originally planned.

Nora ran past her towards the door, but before Casey could say anything about the milk, Nora screamed "Bye!" and was out the door. Casey was grateful for George's good timing as he walked out of his basement bedroom. "Morning, girls."

"Hey, George." Casey said, "Are you gonna go to the store later? Because we're out of milk."

George opened the fridge to check for himself, "Oh, I guess we are. Yeah, okay, I'll go to the store later on," He said, as he closed the fridge door and looked back towards Lizzie and Casey, "Do you guys want anything else while I'm there?"

Casey and Lizzie simultaneously shook their heads no. Casey, realizing she still had nothing to eat, started opening cabinets one by one until she finally settled on a strawberry poptart. Casey wasn't that hungry, so it annoyed her that there were two poptarts in a package instead of one. She never understood why they couldn't just put one poptart in a package, because, if she were still hungry after the first one, couldn't she just open another one and eat it? Putting two poptarts in a package was just wasteful, in Casey's opinion.

Derek walked down the steps, into the kitchen, then onto his favorite stool at the kitchen table. He put his elbows onto the counter and yawned, rubbing his hands up and down across his face, before getting up and grabbing his cereal and heading towards the fridge.

"We don't have any milk." Casey said.

"Sorry, Der, I'll get some tonight." George said from the doorway, as he put on his jacket. "I'll see you guys." He said, as he waved goodbye and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Derek shut the fridge door and set his cereal back down. "You can have this other poptart if you want it." Casey said, pointing towards the strawberry poptart sitting in it's wrapper on the counter next to her.

"Uh, thanks." Derek said, as Casey handed it to him.

Casey popped the last of the poptart into her mouth, and walked towards the door, grabbing her bag and saying goodbye to Lizzie, and then, Edwin, as he walked into the kitchen. Derek soon followed, grabbing another packet of poptarts on his way out.

It was never any secret that Derek disliked school. The only reason he was ever really okay with school was because it was a chance to talk to girls. And, while sometimes his parents threatened him with a private all boys school unless he did better, they would never do it. And it was only just recently that Derek realized this. Girls were sometimes the only thing that could ever really motivate Derek.

Derek closed his locker and walked towards the cafeteria for lunch, with a very attractive blonde girl by his side. "So are you doing anything Saturday night?" Derek said, leaning against a table. "Maybe" She said, in a giddy voice.

"Oh," Derek said, "Well _maybe _I'll pick you up around 7 and we'll get some dinner." He said, with a wink and walked away from her, hearing her giggle and walk away as well. He sat down at his usual table, Sam and Tyler already there. "Hey." Sam said, looking up at Derek and watching him sit down. "You get the date with Katie?"

Derek smirked, and shook his head saying yes. "Piece of cake."

"So how you doin, man?" Derek asked Tyler.

Tyler looked up, "I'm good. Yeah, I kind of like it here."

Sam laughed and patted Tyler's back. "Good."

At that moment, a brunette with a big chest walked up behind Derek and covered his eyes, "Guess who?"

Sam coughed loudly. Cough cough, Mich cough cough, elle.

Derek smiled, "Michelle?"

"Good job! You win a kiss." And at that, she leaned forward to kiss Derek's cheek. Derek smiled and looked up at her. "We need to talk." He said, looking up and pulling Michelle away from the table.

"What's he doing?" Tyler asked Sam.

"Breaking up with her. You can call Derek a lot of things, but a cheater isn't one of them. He always breaks up with a girl before he goes on a date with another."

Tyler shook his head, not understanding, but not questioning. When Derek got back to the table, Tyler, realizing the confused look on his face, straightened his face to one of contentment. Derek laughed, "What, dude?"

"Oh, oh, nothing, it's just-"

Derek interrupted him, "How do I get so many girls to fall over me like that?"

Tyler laughed and Derek shook his head, "Don't worry, I'll teach you."


	5. Chapter 5

Derek and Tyler sat alone outside after school, watching all the cars pass and people walking away from the school. "So, you want me to pass my trade on to you?" Derek asked Tyler, with a hint of amusement in his voice. Tyler simply shrugged and Derek furrowed his brows and looked at Tyler seriously. "Guess you don't, then." Derek said, crossing his arms in front of him and starting to get up to walk away. Tyler grabbed Derek's jacket and pulled him back onto the grass in a panic, "Yes! Yes I do!"  
Derek laughed and threw himself back down next to Tyler. "That's what I thought. Now, rule number 1? Be grateful that I'm at all teaching you this."  
Tyler shook his head in understanding, and Derek went on, "Rule number 2? NEVER tell a girl about this. Never. Okay? That's extremely important."  
Tyler once again shook his head in agreement, "Yeah, I got you."  
Derek nodded, "Good." He took a deep breath, "Now, you ready?"  
"Ready for what?" Tyler asked, furrowing his eyebrows at Derek.  
"Find a girl you think is cute." Derek said, pointing towards the students walking out of the school.  
"Uh.. why?"  
Derek rolled his eyes, "Just do it."  
Tyler looked around and his eyes immediately went to one girl. Tyler pointed at her hopefully and looked at Derek. Derek turned at once and saw Casey walking with Emily. Casey was struggling under the heavy weight of her bag that no doubt had every single one of her textbooks inside of it. He always wondered how Casey didn't have back problems from the weight she carried home every single day. Derek furrowed his brows and looked at Tyler.  
"Dude, no. That's hilarious, but no. You can't have Casey. That's rule number 3. Actually, no, man, that's the most important rule. Rule number 1. You can't have her." Derek looked at Tyler aggressively and paused before adding, "Ever."  
Tyler shrugged at an attempt to brush it off, immediately regretting ever saying it, "Yeah, yeah, I got it."  
Derek looked between Tyler sitting next to him and Casey walking with Emily and sighed. "I'm not gonna have any problems with you, am I?"  
Tyler shook his head, "Of course not. I get it, I'm not gonna mess with your sister."  
"Dude, get it right. Step sister." Derek corrected. Tyler looked at Derek in confusion, wondering why he always had to clarify step sister, but knew better than to push it by talking any more about Casey.  
Truth be known, even if Tyler had asked, Derek wouldn't have an answer for him. He never understood it himself, it's just something he'd always done. He never really understood why, if somebody asked about Lizzie, for example, he would say of course, she was his little sister. But with Casey, it was always different. It's like he had an automatic instinct to clarify the fact that she was his step sister. Maybe it was the fact that Casey and him were so close in age, or that they were both 15 when they met for the first time. Either way, Derek just couldn't bare to call Casey his sister. It was just too weird.

Tyler looked around awkwardly, not sure what to do now. "Uh, sorry." Tyler said.  
Derek laughed shook his head, taking a deep breath, "It's whatever, dude. Don't worry about it. Just pick a better girl this time."

* * *

Casey and Emily walked out of the school and towards their houses. Casey pulled her falling bag back onto her shoulder, hating how bad she hurt from the weight of her books on her shoulders. Casey wished silently that Derek still had The Prince, Derek's car that George sold a few months ago. He sold it because it was run down and Casey was sure the next time anybody drove the car, it would break. Not only that, it was expensive to keep up with and not worth the trouble. Derek and George fought like crazy for it, but in the end, the car just had to go, leaving both Derek and Casey without a car. At this moment, Casey regretted that decision, as she desperately wished for a backseat to throw her bag into.

Emily patted Casey's shoulder to get her attention, and pointed towards Derek and Tyler, as they walked towards a group of preppy girls, who squealed as Derek walked towards them. "Are they best friends now or something?" Emily asked.

"You know, Em, I don't even know. Derek's probably only hanging out with him to make sure he won't get to me."  
Emily squinted her eyes and looked at Casey suspiciously, "And you don't find that weird at all?"  
Casey shrugged and shifted her bag, with much effort, from her left shoulder to her right, "Derek does allot of weird things," Casey said as she and Emily started walking again, "I don't pretend to know why."  
Casey shook her head at the ground and continued walking. She knew Emily made a good point, but didn't want to push it any further. Because if Casey talked about it any longer, she only knew it would only make her angry. Why DID Derek try to ruin any chance at a relationship she could have? It never made any sense. Maybe it was just another ploy at trying to ruin her life, she thought. Casey loudly sighed and Emily raised an eyebrow at her.

"You okay?" Emily asked.  
"Yeah," Casey replied, obviously not okay at all. "It's just that.. I mean, Em, you're right. It's weird that Derek cares so much about who I date. What's it matter to him, you know?"  
Emily nodded.  
"He should really learn to mind his own business. I mean, wasn't it obvious that Tyler liked me?"  
Emily nodded, too used to Casey's rants.  
"You know what, Emily? He can't tell me who I can and cannot date. If Tyler likes me and I think I like him, Derek should mind his own business. And I'm gonna show Derek just that."  
"Uh, Casey, what are you gonna do?" Emily asked, now worried. She knew that when Casey was angry or had an idea, especially when it involved Derek, there was no stopping her.  
"You'll see." Casey replied, looking ahead with a mischievous smile.


	6. Chapter 6

Casey sat cross legged on the living room couch, and sighed deeply as she flipped a page in her English Literature book. Her teacher, Mr. Anderson, assigned Chapters 10 – 15 for homework, but Casey had already read ahead to Chapter 30. Casey thought often of asking to be moved up to a higher level Literature class, but didn't want to hurt Mr. Anderson's feelings. Casey liked Mr. Anderson and loved how excited he got about literature. Mr. Anderson reminded Casey of herself. He was the kind of teacher that all teacher's should strive to be like, Casey often thought.

There was a knock on the door, and Casey looked up, expecting some other member of her family to run to the door. When nobody did, and the knock came again, Casey huffed slightly and pushed the book off of her lap. Walking towards the door, she first took a look out the window, and saw Tyler. He saw her looking and smiled sheepishly. Casey quickly turned away before quickly checking herself in the mirror and opening the door.

Casey looked Tyler up and down before she could stop herself. She quickly caught herself, and prayed to God Tyler didn't notice.

"Hey, Casey." Tyler said, with a half smile.

"Hey" Casey replied, trying to look Tyler directly in the eyes.

"Is Derek home?"

"Yeah," Casey said, opening the door wider and backing away, "You wanna come in?"

Tyler nodded and walked inside, closing the door behind him. "I'll be right back, k?" Casey said, as she turned and ran up the steps.

Tyler watched as Casey ran the steps and turned the corner at the top, then he looked around the room. Slowly, he walked towards the couch and sat down, trying not to touch the book sitting in the middle. He looked at it as he sat down and noticed the Literature book sitting open to the homework Mr. Anderson had given them over the weekend. His eyes drifting to the pages of notebook paper already filled out with all of the answers.

"So," Casey said, as she came down the steps. Tyler gasped and looked up. Casey stopped at the foot of the couch, and giggled a bit. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Tyler cleared his throat and laughed with Casey, "Yeah, you just scared me.. So, where's Derek?"

Casey rolled her eyes and lightly sat down on the other side of the couch. "I couldn't find him, so I asked Edwin. _Apparently_ he's on his way home from Sam's house."

"Ah." Tyler nodded.

"You can just wait if you want." Casey suggested hopefully.

"Um.." Tyler took a deep breath and looked around the room, as if considering whether it would be a good idea or not.

"Please?" Casey asked playfully.

Tyler sighed, "Um, sure. Why not?" He said, quietly laughing as Casey's smile increased. "And hey, maybe you can help me figure out this homework. I can't muster up enough attention to read through the entire thing to even get to the questions."

Casey smiled and bit down on her lip. "Sure."

Casey sat with Tyler for no more than 10 minutes when they heard a car pulling into the driveway. Casey quickly jumped up and ran to the window. Looking out the window, she saw Derek and Sam getting out of Sam's car and begin walking towards the house.

"Well, Derek's back." Casey said as she walked back towards the couch.

Tyler scooted just the littlest bit away from Casey as the door opened.

Derek and Sam walked in, talking fast about something. They stopped abruptly as they saw Tyler and Casey sitting on the couch. "Um, hey?" Derek remarked, with his eyebrows raised at Tyler.

"Hey, um.." Tyler looked at Casey, and then back at Derek, "I was just here to see you."

Derek nodded, the suspicion not leaving his face. "Mhm."

Casey couldn't help but smile up at Derek. "What's wrong, _Der_? Got a problem?"

Sam shot Casey a look of confusion before Derek feigned a look of contentment at Casey. "'Course not.. Uh, so let's go Tyler." He said as he and Sam began walking up the steps.

"Hey, Tyler, hold up" Casey whispered quickly at Tyler. Tyler hesitated for a quick moment before stopping. "I was thinking maybe we could go see a movie or something tomorrow night?"

"Um..." Tyler groaned quietly and stared up the stairs before answering. "Sure. Why not? Just uh... just don't tell Derek?"

Casey smiled mischievously. "Of course not."

"Dude, are you coming or what?" Derek asked impatiently as he came back around the corner at the top of the stairs. Tyler nodded and started back up the stairs, but stopped again when Derek disappeared. "Hey, Casey?" Tyler asked.

"Hm?"

"I'll call you."


End file.
